Early Bird
by EtincelleD'OR
Summary: They say that the early bird gets the worm. Or, in this case, the High Priest. And there's rather less between them than she ever would have thought. Literally. SethxKisara rated for Seth's lack of a shenti. That's the Egyptian skirt thingy Oneshot


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**Summary: They say that the early bird gets the worm. Or, in this case, the High Priest. And there's rather less between them than she would have thought. Literally. SethxKisara. Rated for Seth's lack of a kilt.**

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**WildEm: Disclaimer: (sweatdrops) Do I sound like Kazuki Takahashi? Enough said.**

**Kisara: What do you mean? I get a nice surprise?**

**WildEm: (flaps arms frantically) Don't give it away!!!**

**Kisara: Seth isn't in this fic is he by any chance?**

**WildEm: (eyes swivel from side to side) No... Wouldn't dream of it... **

**Kisara: (sweatdrops)**

**WildEm: Buckle up then peeps...**

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_**Early Bird**_

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The pre-sunrise sky bathed the palace of Pharaoh Atem and all it's surroundings in a peaceful, slightly blue light, somewhere halfway between daylight and the dark night sky. The last of the stars could be seen faintly glinting through the lighter firmament, and the moon, which was a week into it's cycle and in a perfect cresent shape, shone with little more than half the ambience it usually did. The somewhat tropical plants that usually thrived on the sunlight of the day were drooping slightly, as if they were waiting patiently yet diasppointedly for the sun to appear on the horizon. The nearby trickle of water was the most obvious thing to the ear, followed by the more distant, deeper sound of falling water. A pale hand stroked the leaves of the plants on the side of the path, and the flowering shrubs almost turned to look at her back as she passed them, as a sunflower would lean towards the sun. The world was asleep, it would seem.

But not Kisara. She was as wide awake as she had been the night before. Sleep did not come to her easily. Before she would have been awake long before this hour, cleaning or slaving. When she had first arrived at the palace, she had been given several days in a bed to rest, which she had taken them up on gladly, but a week on, they still insisted that she sleep in. When Mana had said that she would come and wake her when it was time to get up, she was shocked at how late it actually was.

Or how late it was in comparison to her previous rising time. It was about an hour after sunrise, and she had lain in the bed wide awake for the latter two and a half hours of it. The slaves of the town always rose earlier, on pain of their deaths, however slavery was very rare in Egypt. There were very few slaves, and if there were they were foreigners. Like herself. The Egyptians enjoyed a high quality of life, and hence slavery was was scarce. But even so, Kisara had noted how kindly the servants were treated here. They were given clothes to wear, and quarters to live in, and paid a little silver for their hours. That, to Kisara, was the lap of luxury. Even they didn't have to be up this early. No one did, except the priests, they had to be up before dawn to perform the spell that made the sun rise, but they wouldn't be up for another hour at least, much less walking about away from their chambers.

She had wanted to explore ever since she got here, and decided that the gardens were the best place to start, as there was less chance of being seen and heard. There was only a corridor onlooking them as well. If anyone did hear her, they wouldn't bother looking because their windows were on the southern, northern and eastern side of the palace. The reason the chambers and quarters were not on the western side was because as the sun rose in the east, if people's window's were on the west, they wouldn't notice the sun rising until much later, and wouldn't be up on time, hence receiving a nasty scolding from one of the priests. Well, that was how Mana had said it. Although, after having observed their personalities and gaining knowledge about them - mostly from Mana, it rather depended on who it was who it was that was doing the scolding.

She had been left to make up her own opinions of the Royal Court, but having very little proper contact with any of them, and the Pharaoh and the Head Mage Priest Mahado being the only two that Mana knew much about, she found it rather difficult to judge their characters, mainly because they seemed to switch every five minutes.

Priest Shaada was stern, but not quite strict enough. He was mysterious, and never seemed to speak any sense. Even the other priests thought so, much to their annoyance. When she asked Mana how old Priest Shaada was, Mana replied:

"I do not think that Priest Shaada knows how old Priest Shaada is."

Enough said.

Priest Karim was a nice sweet person, but this was always covered by a businesslike prerogative, partially because, she had heard, that the others liked to tease him about it.

Priest Akunadin never seemed to do anything except sit tucked away in his little room and read books. Translating and interpreting. She supposed someone had to do it, but Akunadin had given her several frightening glares, as if he was already scheming with how he could torture her, and she had noticed how he and Seth were always at each others' throats. They hated each other... No, hate wasn't the word for it. They loathed and despised one another with a fervence.

Actually, it seemed to be Seth that did the obvious hating and rebuking, and Akunadin that loathed silently and would go out of his way to annoy Seth. The other day, the stable lads had been mucking around, throwing skimming stones in the water hole. Akunadin had seen them and came out to tell them to stop, and stood at the other side of the water hole, but by the time he had shouted, the stone had already left the distracted boy's hand, and flew straight over the water and hit Akunadin on the shin. Seth had actually laughed at this, refused to perform a healing spell, and Kisara had even heard him utter;

"Boy should have thrown harder..."

Priest Mahado gave firm looks and was strict, and threatened with gruelling punishments, should it they be necessary. Mahado was incredibly loyal, and an amazing magician. He was honest, friendly, and compassionate, but was strict as a contrast. He was good tempered and patient. But Mana had warned her that Mahado was also very authoritive, and not by any means afraid to demonstrate this.

High Priestess Isis similarly, but she was calm and feminine, and kept the others in check. Unlike her predecessor, she was not the mother-figure in the Palace, but she was exhalted by the other women for her brilliance. Although she could be vicious, when crossed.

High Priest Seth, well... what could she say? People would be shouted at, glared at, and threatened with no mercy whatsoever. Seth was a complex character, and Kisara was unsure quite what to make of him. If looks could kill - using both definitions of the word 'looks' - everyone in the palace would be long dead. Everyone, including Mana, had told her that Seth was callous, but she had only known kindness from him. He had rescued her, after all. She had woken up and found herself being carried in his arms, and since then he had softened his gaze for her. Although he was malicious, he had a very strange yet very attractive charm to him, and the other priests, with the slight exception of Akunadin perhaps, didn't seem to have a bad word to day about him. Despite all this, he was still intimidating to a peasant girl such as herself, and if she ever had to talk to him, she suspected that she would spend a vast majority of the conversation looking at the floor.

An obstacle woke her from her ponderings, and as she walked out of the plant-laden corridor and into the open, her shoes scuffed on what felt like wood, and she looked down to see that she was on a wooden walkway, which was there to account for the steep rocky slope that lead down to the bathing pools. Her hair fell over her face and she brushed it out of the way, and looked ahead of her. She noticed that the entire wooden path was sopping wet. The servants had obviously scrubbed it the night before, and it wouldn't dry out until the sun shone. Hence it was still covered in water. There was a little wooden side path which spiralled down from the corridor, and went down another garden, but no one ever used it because it was too close to the depths of the pool for comfort. And this spiral path was also laden with puddles of water. She had wanted to go to to one of the further gardens beyond the bathing pools, and stepped out onto the wet wood.

And she froze.

She had thought the bathing pools would be empty at this time in the morning.

Obviously, they weren't.

She held her breath to stop herself from gasping and felt her knees go weak as she identified the figure standing in the water.

It was Seth.

And he was as naked as he was born.

His chestnut hair fell untidily down the back of his neck, and then he lay back in the water, submerging himself for a few seconds, before re-emerging and shaking his head, making his hair lie in it's usual way again. As the water ran down his face and neck he let out a quiet yet sensual moan, and Kisara felt her cheeks burn. He stood up, water dripping from his practically steaming body, and she was rooted on the spot. His physique was perfect, and, what was usually left to the imagination underneath his tunic, did not disappoint.

_Quite_ the contrary.

The muscles in his shoulders, chest and arms were well-developed, smooth and very toned, and she caught a glimpse of a six pack any man would have been proud of. Of course priests were not allowed to have any body hair as a hygiene regulation except on their heads and, well, there, so his skin was smooth perfectly tanned from the blazing Egyptian sun, and his sapphire blue eyes closed in bliss as he submerged himself in the cool water again. And, the icing on the cake, he had a really large...

_Oh._

_Holy._

_Ra._

Kisara's cheeks turned a very deep shade of red, and she forced herself back behind the plants. She was no way going down there if _he _was there! But she didn't want to go back the way she came, that would mean the end of her exploration. She looked down at the spiral path, and thought. She could get down there easily, she was more agile than most. And it meant she could continue exploring without being seen by Seth.

Slowly but surely, she began to make her way down, testing each footstep for slippery boards as she went. It was more slippery than she had first realised. The servants must have used some kind of soap, because her feet were sliding everywhere. She took another step, and her foot slid out from under her. She tried to grab a plant, but she lost her balance trying, and fell. There was a massive splash, and Seth's head snapped around. Falling in was all well and good, even if it was a little embarrassing, but there was a problem.

Kisara couldn't swim.

She struggled frantically to the surface, and looked for something to grab. There wasn't anything. She took a deep breath as she felt herself go under again, her arms flailing madly. She closed her eyes tightly to keep the water out, and tried desperately to get herself to the surface. With no avail. She let the bubbles rise from her mouth and nose, and was all too aware of the lack of oxygen. Her lungs screamed at her, and she thought it was all over. She felt weak and let herself sink lower, but then she felt something grab hold of her under her arms and pull her upwards. Her head and upper body broke to the surface, and she coughed and spat out water, taking in huge gulps of air. She felt something strong clamp around her waist, and looked up. And froze again.

"What in Ra's name are you doing???!!!" a deep masculine voice demanded.

"I... Uh... I..." she spluttered, "I... I was exploring... Your Majesty..."

"Is my rescuing of you to become a regular arrangement?" he demanded, and she shrunk and shook her head. He felt her tremble beneath his arms, and snorted, "Why are you exploring at this time in the morning?"

"I wanted to see all the gardens, your Majesty..." she said, becoming vastly more aware of how her body was pressed against his, and how close he was, she tried frantically not to blush. She failed, "I did not wish to interrupt you... So I tried to go down there, but it was slippery..." she said, coughing up yet more water, and her cheeks flushed red, and she looked down to avoid his gaze, realising that then she was only looking at something else that made her go redder.

"I see." he said. He knew that the peasant women never learned to swim. It was normal for all others to do so, but the peasants just never had the time, "I will teach you to swim. But you must be careful, water can be treacherous." She nodded. He began to explain to her how to tread water, and after a few times, she managed to do it by herself. he then went on to show her how to put velocity into it. This was more difficult, and when she tried this she went under almost immediatly. He grabbed her and hauled her up, holding her securely and kicking his legs hard to keep them both up, while she spat out more water. He seemed to have forgotten all about having left his kilt at the other side of the pool.

"I do not like this, your Majesty." she said from his powerful embrace.

"Firstly, Alexandria was not built in a day. And secondly, call me Seth." he said, and she flushed again. **(A/N: The phrase goes; 'Rome was not built in a day', but it's an Egyptian twist.)**

"But..." she protested.

"Please." he said, "I am too young to my addressed as 'your Majesty', really."

"I forgot to thank you your Ma... Seth."

"For what?"

"Rescuing me from those people." she said quietly, "And for rescuing me today. That's twice you have saved my life now. I am greatful. But I feel I cannot repay you." He gave half a smile.

"It was the noble thing to do..." he trailed off, looking into her eyes. His legs were hurting now, but he didn't care. He tightened his grip with his left arm and brought his right up to brush her wet hair from her face. She was so beautiful... So innocent, so loving. What was this jumpy yet comfortable feeling that was running through him now? She felt his skin touch hers, and blushed slightly as he ran his hand lightly down the side of her face. She smiled and half-laughed at his trance, but it faded somewhat when she realised that she was caught in one herself. He slowly tilted her chin up and kissed her softly, caressing her cheek with his hand. She had never been kissed before, and she had always imagined that men kissed roughly, but he didn't. His mouth massaged hers gently, teasing, coaxing a reply from it. She allowed him to deepen it, and ran her hands up his muscled arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, and then gingerly ran her right hand through his hair. She couldn't believe how good this felt, and the kisses came faster and harder. Kisses like this usually felt like they lasted forever, but in Kisara's opinion, this one didn't last long enough. He broke away very, very gently and smiled, and she looked up at him with puppy-like eyes. He chuckled to himself.

"Come on." he said, and began to swim back to the shallows with her. When she could reach the bottom, he somewhat reluctantly let go of her and let her walk the rest, while he lounged back in the water. Water dripped from her hair and dress, and she picked up the hem and wrung it out, and did the same with her hair.

"Let me help." he said, and muttered something under his breath. She felt warm, and steam began to rise from her clothes and skin. She crumpled the hem of her dress in her hand, finding it was completely dry. He sat himself on the edge of the pool, with his lower legs hanging in the water, and quickly grabbed his kilt and wrapped it around his waist before she got the chance to see anything more. He noticed her looking though.

"Impressed?" he asked deliberately lowering his voice to an aphrodisial tone and smiling slightly. Her expression deteriorated and she turned the colour of a beetroot.

"Thank you." she said quickly, when she managed to stop staring at him, "I..." she started, "I ought to go."

"Alright." he agreed, "I'll... see you later."

"Yes." she nodded, and slowly began back up the path.

"Oh Kisara..." he said, and she turned around. It was the first time she had ever seen him lost for words.

"Yes?"

"I..." he stuttered, "I... I enjoyed teaching you." he forced, and she smiled and blushed.

"And I..." she grinned, "And uh... Can I have another lesson sometime?" She was really grinning now, and she saw a small smirk appear on his face, but it was obvious he was trying to stop himself from grinning too.

"I'd like that." he replied coolly, before asking; "Same time tomorrow?" Her cheeks turned crimson and she giggled.

"Alright." she said, and smiled at him one last time, before turning away and making her way back up to the gardens. She wanted to scream and jump up and down, but there was no chance. Still, the High Priest of Egypt had a fantastic arse.

Something told her that the view she got was better than anything she would have seen in the Royal Gardens. Much better.

_"Maybe early morning walks aren't so bad after all..."_

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**WildEm: Do you think they'll be wanting me to pay them extra for having to do that scene? Hm...**


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